Humidifiers often have one or more reservoirs for holding water. Water in a reservoir of a humidifier is typically released through one or more valves to a base tray in smaller quantities, for evaporation and humidification purposes, resulting in water often sitting in the reservoir and along the base tray of the humidifier.
Various particles of a humidifier may become fouled with bacteria, viruses, mold, and other contaminants over time. For example, many humidifiers have a reservoir, one or more base trays, one or more mist channels, one or more sidewalls and one or more covers. Over time, mold, bacterial, viruses, and other contaminants may build up on such components, and in particular on components that are subject to elevated levels of moisture. Water in a humidifier may also remain stagnant for long periods (e.g., days) before it is replaced or replenished with fresh water—providing an opportunity for mold and bacterial growth therein.
With the foregoing in mind, it may be desirable to periodically clean components of a humidifier and any water therein, e.g., in an effort to ensure that the humidifier is sanitary for use. However, consumers often do not adequately clean various components of a humidifier, or replenish the reservoir with fresh water when the water therein has been sitting for a long period of time. Parts of a humidifier that need cleaning may also be hard to reach and, therefore, may be difficult to clean.
The foregoing issues are compounded by the fact that many commonly recommended methods for cleaning humidifiers can be messy, time consuming, and inconvenient. For example, the user guide of some humidifiers may recommend cleaning the reservoir and/or other components of the machine using a cleaning solution that is a mixture of water and vinegar. Such methods can be inconvenient, as they often require the user to prepare the cleaning solution themselves. Moreover, such a cleaning solution may not effectively kill some types of water born mold and/or bacteria, and therefore may inadequately sanitize the reservoir of a humidifier. Other commonly recommended methods of cleaning a humidifier include manual washing, scrubbing, and drying of the reservoir, which are often time consuming and considered to be undesirable to consumers.
Accordingly the inventors have identified that there is a continued interest in the development of novel devices, systems, and methods for sanitizing all or a portion of a humidifier, including but not limited to the water reservoir, sidewalls and base tray of a humidifier and any water therein.